School Engagement in three Senegalese secondary schools
Natsuki Aoshika
University of Jyväskylä Autumn term 2014 Faculty of Education
Master’s Programme in Development and International Cooperation
with a Specialization in Education
ABSTRACT
UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ Faculty of Education
AOSHIKA, NATSUKI: School Engagement in three Senegalese secondary schools Master’s thesis, 68 pages
Supervisor: Dr. Matti Kuorelahti
Development and International cooperation major in Education June 2015
The purpose of the research was to examine how is the construct and the prediction of school engagement and affective, cognitive and behavior engagement subdimensions in Senegalese secondary school. Another matter of interest was to find out what kind of the support experiences students get from teachers, family and peers.
The cross-sectional data of research consisted of Senegalese junior high school students (N＝571, age10 – 20 years) from three schools located in Fatick province, Senegal. Participants answered self - report questionnaires in May 2013. The data was analyzed with factor analysis, reliability analysis with Cronbach alpha, t-test and One-way analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used.
Results also suggests that the Senegalese version of Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) has unique features which can not compare to Western model of SEI due to language issue, fragile education system and culture. However, the theory of School Engagement can be a useful concept of improving quality of education in Senegalese though understanding the student’ perception on schooling.
Keywords: School engagement, Student-teacher, family, peers support, Relevance, Future goals, Social competence and Social emotional competence.
Content
1INTRODUCTION ... 3
SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT IN SENEGAL ... 4
2 SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT ... 7
2.1BEHAVIOURAL ENGAGEMENT ... 9
2.2ENGAGEMENT AND MOTIVATION ... 11
2.3AFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT ... 13
2.3.1 Teacher ... 14
2.3.2. Peer ... 17
2.3.3 Family ... 20
2.4COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT ... 24
2.4.1 Relevance ... 25
2.4.2 Future goals ... 27
3 SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT ... 32
3.1SOCIAL COMPETENCE (SOCIAL SKILLS) ... 33
3.2SOCIOEMOTIONAL COMPETENCE ... 35
4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ... 39
5. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE ... 40
5.1BACKGROUND INFORMATION ... 40
5.2PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE ... 40
5.4DATA ... 45
5.5ETHICAL CONSIDERATION ... 46
6. RESULTS ... 47
6.1CONSTRUCT OF SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT ... 47
6.2.DIFFERENCES OF SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT ACCORDING TOBACKGROUND VARIABLES. ... 50
6.3.STUDENT’S SUPPORT EXPERIENCES FROM TEACHER, PARENTS AND PEERS ... 52
7. DISCUSSION ... 54
8.1LIMITATIONS ... エラー! ブックマークが定義されていません。 8.2 CONCLUSIONS ... 58
9.REFERENCE ... 60
10. APPENDIX ... 66
1 Introduction
In 1980’s school engagement was firstly conceptualized as a means to understand dropout and its prevention. Also the concept attempts to improve academic outcomes for students whose performance is marginal or poor. (Finn & Zimmer 2012, 98) Today, the concept has become widespread as a center of study around Europe and the USA and has been interested in all over the world. School engagement focuses on not only student’s behavior and attitude towards schooling but also psychological factors in education settings, which can be a considerable impact on development and academic success. Jimerson (2003, 3) stresses,
“Standards and accountability in education it is important to recognize the interplay between socio-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development as they influence academic success and learning.” On the contrary, considering school engagement on education in Senegal, the concept of school engagement itself seems exists in some vague way however it would take time to achieve the practical use of concept in school due to many issues that they face currently. For example, it is truly said that the low quality education and high dropout in most Sub-saran African countries are caused by a lot of issues such as poverty, deficiency in education and health budged, poor treatment and environment. Additionally, it can be said that many studies on African education overlook what is happening in classroom surrounding students and teachers. More importantly, the students’ perspective on school and
psychological issues need to be the center of attention. For instance, students might not feel they belong to school or might not believe academic success will have a strong bearing on their future. This negative feelings leads to becoming disaffected and alienated from school.
In other words, positive reactions to school, teachers, and classmates attract to stay and continue further schooling and have long-lasting impacts on education. Therefore, obtaining the student perceptions of their social and school environment might reach to more useful and practical method for improving quality of education in Senegal. “Student voice is most successful when it enables students to feel that they are members of a learning community, that they matter, and that they have something valuable to offer” (Rudduck 2007, 587). This research has been conducted by giving voices from Senegalese students about their
perceptions on school and people who involved in their schooling.
The main aim of the study is to investigate how Senegalese student engage at school cognitively and affectively. First, this study describes the several different types of
engagement in detail. Second, the analyses of school engagement survey that are based on research conducted with local community secondary school students will examine. Also this study focuses the perceptions on student’ support from teachers, family members and among peers. Therefore, the research examines and analyzes specific variable dimensions within student’s interpersonal relationships such as teachers, peers and family affect to school engagement. In this study, researcher intended to test the variables that predict affective, cognitive engagement and different engagement profiles such as relevance, study goals, social competence and student’s relationships with teachers, family, and peers. However, it is hardly find the similar research with students have employed measures of school engagement in Senegal before this research. In addition, the concept of engagement has stayed relatively unknown. Therefore this research faces many challenges and limitations in terms of
Senegalese cultural context and school environment.
1.1 School engagement in Senegal
Today, the number of global population with out of school children remains high particularly secondary education in developing countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, “less than half of secondary school age adolescents are enrolled in secondary school, leaving million of young people entering the workforce without the necessary academic and life skills”
(UNICEF 2013). The problem that we encounter today is not only the enrollment in school but also some students have been facing the problem to continue to study to upper level education. Future, the study outcomes are marginal or poor despite people go to school. For example, “out of 100 pupils entering reception class, only 48 reached the final year of elementary schooling without repeating. Among these, 20 pupils had entered middle school and five reached the final class of senior-secondary school.” (Gueye, Kane, Diop & Sy 2010, 40) More specifically, the data from the World Bank also indicates that the average of
primary school enrolment rate has increased to 84% (% gross) in 2012 in Senegal. However, the school enrolment rate for secondary school was only at 41% in 2011. (The World Bank 2014) As we can see, many students face at the risks of school failure such as dropping out, repeating the same grade today. Especially, the statistics shows that dropping out from school is significantly common in the transition from primary school education to secondary
education. Finn and Zimmer (2012, 99) argued that dropout is an outcome of earlier school
experiences that become an obstacle to further schooling. Moreover, in the context of developing courtiers, dropout perpetuates many social problems such as poverty, crime, unemployment, and teenage pregnancy.
On contrary, educational failure and dropping out are associated with numbers of factors in Senegal, such as socio-cultural and economic situations, the poor quality of education, lack of facilities and materials that are obstacle for the enrolment and continuing to further education. Finn argued that there are two main risk factors: status risk factor and behavioural risk factor that may cause a child at risk for out of educational. Status risk factor includes demographic and historical characteristics, which are easily identifiable elements.
For example, economic status and family background such as tribe, language at home, education, religion, family structure and size, early marriage and pregnancy are difficult to change through school based intervention but are all highly related to educational success or failure. (Finn 1988, 11) These issues can be the dominant and typical causes of failing school in Senegal. While, behavioural risk factors including low motivation, cognitive problems, learning disabilities and physical and mental handicaps are also evident in many pupils to be an obstacle for leaning when they enter school. According to researcher’s volunteer
experiences at primary school in Senegal, it is identifiable whether pupils who participate the class actively or not and pupils with negative behaviour during the class such as sleeping, getting bored, and chatting with friends depending on where they locate to sit in the
classroom. It can be argued that the lack of academic engagement in terms of psychological and behaviour which are also the common reasons for given for dropping out of school:
boredom, lack of relevance in course work. Furthermore, many of these children often struggle with learning to read and write in French language and their problems worsen when mathematics and other subjects place greater demands on reading skills. Therefore, even the students go to school; study outcomes seem to be rather poor and insufficient level. As a result, some students tend to fail the finals exam at the end of school year, which leads to repeating the same year or dropping out. By the secondary school, the students tend to face a very high risk of a disaffection towards school, low achievement to educational activities, and early school withdrawal (Williams 2003, 10). Underachievement and school disengagement have serious consequences both at individual level and national level.
In addition, the classroom environment was often not the best condition for active engagement in Senegalese classroom. The overpopulated classroom size does not allow
having appropriate relationships between students and teacher. As a consequence, children become passive rather than active learner in the classroom. School size influences
behavioural and emotional engagement. Barker and Gump argued “students’ opportunities to participate and develop social relations were greater in small schools than in large one”
(Fredricks, Blumenfeld & Paris2004, 73). Also in terms of teaching skills, teachers are compelled to become an information giver and the knowledge flows one-way from teacher to student. In addition, classrooms tend to be highly hierarchical rather than collaborative that allows both teacher and student to more beyond conventional roles. “Engagement in learning is an important as it is elusive in the cast majority of traditional, bureaucratic school
structure” (Klem & Connell 2004, 262). Eventually, disengagement could result from a weakened relationship between individual and school, between teacher and student.
Therefore, trusting relationships among peers and between teachers and students are essential for high engagement is associated with positive learning outcomes, which motivate both the teachers and students.
Globally, in order to prevent dropping out of school, improving the quality of education is one of most urgent and crucial challenge to address today. Also, creating the sustainable learning environment support is highly profitable for every child. Enhancing school success and improving school enrolment is the main goals for EFA until the end of 2015. Further, the quality of education, which is urgent goals for EFA Goal 6: “improving all aspects of the quality of education and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills” (EFA 2010). For these challenges, the quality of support by international society, government, community, family, teachers and peers and active school engagement can be the key concept, which increases the quality of education and attainment. Therefore, educational practitioners in development field and teachers needs to listen to the student’s voice to gain their perception and discuss about schooling and what conditions contribute to student success although it can be hard to make it reflect on the teaching plan and practice.
The student perspectives usually tend to be not considered in the classroom. Likewise, listening to all students’ voices in this research has been challenging due to the limited time, cultural issues particularly languages and severe educational condition and environment.
However, this school engagement research can be beneficial for future education in Senegal.
For education reform, school engagement, teaching skills might be able to modify school practices and policies to improve the progresses of students at risks. Also, the engagement
and disengagement perspective enable us to find the way to reduce the likelihood of school failure and to help increase school completion rates that lead to student future achievement in Senegal. Considering and analysing the issues at school or classroom level can promote better learning outcome and increasing the schooling.
2 School Engagement
The definition of school engagement encompasses a wide variety of constructs. Finn’s participation-identification model as a theoretical starting point of contemporary model of school engagement explained how behaviour and affect interact to impact the likelihood of academic success. According to Finn, “engagement in school may be viewed behaviourally- that is, whether a student participates regularly in classroom and school activities or
affectively- whether a student feels that he/ she ‘belongs ’ in the school setting and values school-relevant outcomes” (Finn 1985, 5). The definition is based on the idea of participation and positive or negative reactions to school. The participation (behaviour) represents
attending class and school, following class rules and interacting with teachers and peers positively and appropriately. For instance, the ways of participation to school changes
depending on maturity. In the primary grades, the children follow and respond to directions or questions initiated by the teacher. As they get mature, they may take more active roles, above and beyond the degree involvement that is required. (Finn 1985, 6) Further, Fredricks (2004, 70) added belonging includes an individual’s sense of being accepted, valued included, and encouraged by other. Furthermore, identification (affect) means student’s “feeling of being a significant member of the school community, having a sense of inclusion in school….”as well as the recognition of school as both a social institution and a tool for facilitating personal development” (Finn & Zimmer 2012, 100). It can be said that belonging, school membership, bonding, school connectedness, attachment, and valuing are all part of identification. For instance, the degree of students attachment are determined by the student’s feelings about the school, teachers, peers or classroom environment. Specially, students indicates how well they like their classroom teachers, how much they look forward to going to school, and how much they can trust their teachers. (Jimerson 2003, 8) Psychological need, participation,
identification, and internal or external assets are essential condition for school engagement.
The term school engagement is multi-dimensional construct and exists many indicators composing engagement subtypes and the diversity of contents and thus several types of engagement overlaps constructs in many ways. Today, three main scales such as cognitive, affective, behavioural engagement tend to utilize as a mean to investigate in the research of school engagement. Firstly, the behavioural dimension draws on the idea of participation, including students’ observable actions or performance, such as participation in
extra curricular activities, completion of homework, as well as scores on achievement tests.
Secondly, the affective dimension includes students ‘positive and negative reactions to
school, teachers, and /or peers, academies. Therefore, school engagement intertwines with the contextual variables such as person and family, person and teacher, person and peers, person and environment and so on. Finally, the cognitive dimensions includes being thoughtful, effort necessary to overcome, student’s perception and beliefs related to self, (e.g., self efficacy, motivation, aspirations, expectations) In other words, cognitive engagement draws on the idea of investment. (Jimerson 2003, 7; Fredricks et al. 2004, 60)
School engagement can be one useful concept that is well supported by empirical research, to discover the causes of success or failure by analysing student and teachers’s perspective and behaviour. Often viewed as a mediator between important context (e.g., home, school and peers) and outcomes (e.g., achievement and graduation). In recent years, the concept of school engagement provides researchers and interventionists with useful link between these two entities; responsive to changes in school and teacher practices. (Chandra 2012, 62) Also, practitioners easily identify engagement behaviour by applying own
educational experiences and practices because; some engagement characteristics are observable and measurable outcome in research. Therefore, engagement behaviours are responsive to teachers and school’s practices, allowing for the possibility of improving achievement and attainment for students experiencing difficulties along the way. (Finn &
Zimmer 2012, 98) On the contrary, cognitive and affective engagement includes less observable, more internal indicators, such as self-regulation, relevance of work to future endeavours, value of learning as well as personal goals and autonomy (cognitive
engagement) feelings of identifications or belonging, and relationships with teachers and peers (affective engagement). Therefore, this research will determine how student behave, feel, think about their school through quantitative research.
2.1 Behavioural Engagement
Behavioural engagement refers to “student conduct that is beneficial to psychosocial adjustment and achievement at school” (Archambault 2009, 653). Likewise, Fredricks indicates that behaviour engagement mainly contains three different elements. The first element is positive conduct which indicates following and adhering classroom rules and norms, and absence of disruptive behaviour. The second element is involvement in learning and academic tasks and inclusive behaviour includes effort, persistence, concentration,
attention, asking question, and contributing to class discussion. Thirdly, participation in class and school activities tends to be most common definition for behavioural engagement.
(Fredricks et al. 2004, 63) Behavioral engagement assumes that “positive engagement is most likely when the context provides opportunities for individuals to fulfil their needs for
competence belonging and autonomy” (Eccles & Wang 2012, 135).Also, particular school curriculum might be important in sustaining students participate in school so that students can choice the subject that they want to for ones needs and goals.
School factors such as policy, management and environment affects to behaviour engagement. As responsiveness to the school and classroom context, classroom environment, such as school size and safety is also connected to study outcome. For example, small school size tends to result in high engagement connection. Also unsafe environment, unfairness, victimizes rules and negative school sanctions can lead to student disengagement. School rules and disciplinary practices found to be important. Faire treatment by school staff has been described as fundamental to the development of identification with school (Fredricks et al. 2004, 106). It is important that disciplinary policies are seen as fair and effective and school rules as flexible and able to accommodate to the needs of particular students.
However, “the restricted schools were still characterized by “highly” punitive discipline policies, an overemphasis on control, and frequent adversarial relations between students and teachers” (Finn 1988, 16). If pupils perceive that their teachers are disinterested or hostile and that school practices are putative and alienating, then continuous participating in curricular activities – there will be no identification with school and engagement cannot reasonably expected to occur. Also, the basic misunderstanding adolescence development by adults then takes form in highly controlling instruction and punitive classroom and school setting that trigger highly teacher-driven and discouraging for exploration and curiosity. The role of classroom organisation and management such as time, behaviour and attention in creating a well functioning classroom affects student’s behaviour. For instance, routine management strategies make students active participants in classroom activities. This is an efficient strategy for developing class climate and the good relationship between students and teacher.
Ideally, creating personalised educational environment would be increased by the experience of teacher support so that students might feel more supported by teachers and connected to school which is necessary and foundational condition for school engagement. (Klem &
Conell 2004, 271)
2.2 Engagement and motivation
School engagement is more likely to happen when the students make a psychological investment in learning but is not happening accidentally although the student’s efforts are intended in learning. Therefore, the teachers need to guide their students to learning and motivate them. However, in practice, some teachers find difficult to motivate students learn actively and spontaneously. Motivation and engagement are strongly related and overlapping concepts having many commonalities each other. Therefor, it is controversial discussion that what is the role of motivation for engagement and whether motivation is part of engagement or vice visa. It can be said that the concept of engagement and motivation should be defined separately. According to Skinner and Pitzer, “a more precise definition will make
“engagement “easier to measure and study as well as to be related to other theories of
achievement and learning” (Eccles & Wang 2012, 138). Maehr and Meyer (1997, 373) argued that, one hand motivation is related to psychological process that has been thought of the direction, intensity and quality of one’s energy, answering the question of “why ” for a given behavior. On the other hand, “engagement is described as ”energy in Action, the connection between person and activity” (Appleton 2006, 428). Also Reeve explains motivation refers to any force that energizes and directs behavior. Energy gives behavior its strength intensity and persistence. Direction gives behavior its purpose and goal –directedness (Reeve 2012, 151).
Engagement encourages active participation and learning in an activity. Engagement matters the level of participation (the scale such as high, low, active or negative) and the degree of feeling such as enjoy, fun, accomplishment, boring, and tired through activities. According to Eccles and Wang (2012, 138), in general, there is a cycle that A (motivation) → B (behavior)
→ C (Learning or school completion). Motivation influences behavior and then behavior leads to taking actual actions or the end of action. For instance, pupils think that ‘I am interested in doing this, because this leads to my goal.’ Therefore, motivation makes the opportunities of behavior and as a result behavior can be understood as engagement. At the same time, engagement is a mediator between motivation and school completion.
However, this logic between motivation and engagement does not apply for every construct of engagement so that there is no clear distinction between, motivation, behavior and school completion. Some students decide to participate school activities by developing their sense of belonging and attachment. According to Finn’s participation-identification model shows student’s both successful or inevitable failure experiences in various setting create emotional reactions. The self-sustaining nature of the participation-identification cycle
serves a protective function that enables students to navigate those situations. It means that when pupils increase one’s experiences, they meet more positive or negative feeling about similar situation and activities, which turns to value. These cycles become the self-beliefs increase identification or attachment to place where activities take place. (Eccles &Wang 2012, 143) In this case, motivation cannot always create an opportunity for taking action and behaviour. At the same time, positive reward and the certain amount of achievement are important for school identification (engagement). Also, achievement-related beliefs are constructed by the ways in which students interpret or make meaning from their educational experiences. (Bempechat & Shernoff 2012, 320)
Motivation is not always the driving force for active engagement. There is a situation that one can be motivated but no actively engaged in a task. This happens often at class environment in Senegal. Students are motivated and eager to learn and challenge new things, but it seems like they are lack of learning skills (metacognitive skills) or knowledge about how to or when to use strategies to achieve the goals for the future. On the contrary, students may be both highly strategic and highly invested in learning; they may be strategic only when it is necessary to get good grades, not because they want to learn for own interests or goals.
This is probably because the individual needs or goals might be ambiguous and the lack of strategies or skills to achieve them as a result of limited environment in the case of Senegal particularly. The other possibilities are that the study needs and future goals do not fit to study and there is no relevance. In general, motivation would be highest when the demands of the task fit well with both the person’s sense of agency (in this case, their expectation of success) and the values, needs, goals of the individual (Eccles & Wang 2012, 142). It can be said that motivation is necessary but not so sufficient for engagement. However, the mix element both engagement and motivation is essential for better outcome. Needless to say, students who are motivated are more likely to engage in the tasks. It needs to be considered here how motivation promotes engagement efficiently?
Reeve argued that student’ motivation is both a cause and a consequence of student engagement. “High quality student engagement arises out of the quality of the student’s inherent and acquired sources of motivation and out of the twin desire to interact effectively with the environment and to grow as a person and as a learner” (Reeve 2012, 153). He mentioned that in order to increase positive engagement, agentic acts such as making
suggestions, asking questions, and personalizing lessons are crucial elements so that students find ways to enrich and to adopt the lessons they receive into improved opportunities for
learning, skill development, and achievement to occur. (Reeve 2012, 164) Moreover, teacher and the learning environment offer supports and threats against their needs. Needless to say, student motivation and engagement need supportive conditions like supportive student and teacher relationships. The role of teacher is not to create or student motivation and
engagement but the teachers’ role is to support the student motivation and engagement (Reeve 2012, 153).
Additionally, motivation is a crucial element for engagement. For instance, it can be argued that low academic motivation perpetuates poor engagement in leaning. The concept of motivation include not only affective engagement elements such as liking, feeling belonging, and valuing but also cognitive dimension such as the beliefs of competence and perception of teacher caring. In other words, motivation affects student’s engagement or how their
cognitions, behavior and affective are energized directed, and sustained during academic activities. (Schunk & Mullen 2012, 220) Motivation is equated with students’ psychological need satisfaction. Students who perceive themselves to be acting with a sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness during the leaning activity experience high- quality motivation.
(Reeve 2012, 151) In addition, motivations is a complex process that can be affected by personal factors such as individuals thought, beliefs and emotions and by contextual factors such as classrooms, peer groups, and community and home environment (Schunk & Mullen 2012, 220). Therefore, it can be said that motivation is relatively private, whereas
engagement is more public. Consequently motivation and engagement are inherently linked each other, those who study motivation are interested in engagement mostly as an outcome of motivational processes, whereas those who study engagement are interested in motivation as a source of engagement.
2.3 Affective engagement
Affective engagement is also an internal cue to participate in the activities. Affective engagement is normally starting with external motivations and gradually becoming internalized; the focus is on daily experiences and interactions with others. Additionally, affective engagement is associated with psychological and behavioural outcomes and a level of emotional response characterized by feeling of involvement in school as a place and a set of activities worth pursuing identification. (Finn & Zimmer 2012, 103; Fredricks 2004, 63) It includes feelings of belonging, valuing, learning effort, interest, boredom, happiness and positive attitude about learning, attachment. Moreover, Finn regards identification as
belonging (a feeling of being important to the school) and value, (an appreciation of success in school – related outcomes)(Fredricks 2004, 63). Consequently, students who feel
connected to school and cared by their teachers report autonomous reasons for engaging in positive school related behaviour. Also, students with high levels of belonging and
identification with school indicates higher level of motivation and effort than students with lower levels of belonging and identification instead of isolation or alienation.
Interpersonal relationships
Engagement in school was highly influenced by relationships among peers, with adults; this influence included social support and high expectations from teachers as well as parental involvement in school. Masten argued that “resiliency appears to not to arise from extraordinary circumstances or rare traits, but rather form the ordinary ”everyday magic”
embedded in systems of development-within children, families, schools, communities, and their interactions” (Anderson 2004, 96). Positive and trusting relationships between people are a key factor for student engagement. Keeping better relationships with teachers and peers directly provide psychological feelings of identification, or belonging with school. In
particular, quality of interaction with adult and peers prevents the student at a risk of
dropping out or failing the education. For instance, adolescents are fully embedded in a world of interpersonal relationships and social networks have an increasingly important in school life. Wentzel said that relationships are typically defined as “enduring connections between two individuals, unique characterised by degrees of continuity shared history and
interdependent interactions across settings and activities.” He also adds the qualities of relationship are composed of the levels of trust, intimacy, and sharing; the presence of
positive affect, closeness and the content and quality of communication. (Wentzel 2012, 482) These multiple aspect of interpersonal relationships would enhance understanding of how people support engagement at school. By interacting with others, people learn knowledge, skills, strategies, beliefs, norms, and attitudes. Students act in accordance with their beliefs about their capabilities and the expected outcomes of their actions (Schunk & Mullen 2012, 220). For school success, competent and productive members of society are vital for youth development.
2.3.1 Teacher
Teacher support has been correlated with various aspect of behavioral, cognitive and affective engagement. Many researchers have already found that students who experience teacher –
student interactions characterized by high levels of warmth and support or low levels of conflict gain more achievement. On the basis of attachment theory by Bowlby, “a close and supportive relationship with one’s teacher would be expected to promote a child’s emotional security and confidence (Hughes, Luo, Kwok & Loyd 2008, 3). It can be argued that it is extremely important factors that the nature and quality of relationship through classroom interactions, personalised feedback, and academic support between teachers and students which is fundamental to understanding student engagement because providing support, and interactions leads to higher level of student engagement. Today, it can be also said that Piant argued “central problem in school reform is curriculum, school or outcomes assessment but rather the extent to which teachers are supported to interact with students and form
relationships with them that engage them in opportunities to learn and develop” (Piant, Hamre & Allen 2012, 368). However, the quality of relationships between teachers and students deteriorates from elementary to middle school. This situation may explain the decrease in adolescents’ interest during this period of their lives. (Anderson 2004, 96;
Fredricks 2004, 74) The capacity of schools to support youth development; teacher-student interactions are the key factors for promoting positive development.
Thus, respect for each pupils as an individual person and provide academic assistance for students who need it that is called supportiveness facilitate good relationship between students and teachers. Therefore, teachers need to create an accepting and supportive
classroom climate for students and keep the classroom safe and to student speak out. Student feel teachers are involved with them so that adults in school know and care about them. For instance, one hand, positive climate seems to students experience warm caring relationships with adults and peers and enjoy the time they spend in the classroom. On the other hand, for negative climate, students experience yelling, humiliation, or irritation in interactions with teachers and peers. Thus, children and youth in classrooms with high levels of teacher support have higher levels of peer acceptance and classroom engagement than so their peers in less supportive classrooms. (Pianta et al. 2012, 373) Teacher sensitivity, warm caring social environment, highly sensitive teachers timely, and responsive interactions help students see adults as a resource and create environments in which students feel safe and free to explore and learn. In addition, Skinner and Pitzer hypothesize that “teacher warmth, adequate structure and support for autonomy are the three contextual features mostly likely to meet these needs and thus facilitate engagement” (Eccles & Wang, 2012, 135). Teacher warms signifies liking and being interested in their student, believing in their capabilities and
listening to their point of view. Highly sensitive teaching requires teachers to attend to process and respond to a lot of information simultaneously.
The teachers need autonomy support by creating the classroom conditions in which student feel free to ask questions, express opinions and pursuit interests that the student can make important decisions for themselves and the work they are assigned have relevance to their present and future lives. This autonomy support includes providing choice, encouraging self- initiation, minimizing the use of controls, and acknowledging the other’s perspective and feelings. As student feel that teacher’s support their autonomy, they are likely to value the task and experience positive feelings towards it. Pianta said “classroom experiences add value for development is through the pivotal role of student-teacher relationships in the very process engagement” (Pianta et al., 2012, 366).It means that students co-construct their developing understanding of the nature and value of learning through their on-going interactions with caregivers, teachers and mentors in school. Their values are fundamental supports to the value of their experience in the classroom setting for furthering development.
Furthermore, in Self Determination Theory (SDT) (Theory of motivation), teacher’s autonomy support help students to understand the relevance of schoolwork for their personal interests and goals are important predictors of engagement in schoolwork (Assor, Kaplan, &
Roth 2002, 262). In addition, “the essence of autonomy enhancement is not minimization of the educator’s presence, but making the educator’s presence useful for the student who strives to formulate and realize personal goals and interests” (Assor et al. 2002, 273). Also Reeve added “autonomy-supportive motivating style is the interpersonal sentiment and behavior teachers provide to identify, vitalize, and develop their students’ inner motivational resources during instruction” (Reeve 2012, 167). Moreover, providing choice that enables students to choose tasks that they perceive as consistent with their goals and interests. The opportunity to work on tasks that allow students to realize their goals or interests contributes to students’
experience of autonomy in leaning. However, provision of choice should not always be viewed as a major indicator of autonomy support. In most of cases, choices by students are likely to be limited. First of all, the students need to follow national school curriculum, which may not fit their purpose or interests of study. Also when most choices involves tasks are essentially not very interesting or experienced by students as highly autonomy supportive. As in many schools the structure and the resources of the school limit the extent to which
students can be provided with tasks that are highly interesting or relevant, it is possible that
choice provision would not be found to be important subdimensions of autonomy support at most schools.
Classroom interactions are structured around the interests and motivation of the teacher and the students. Throughout school activities, teacher asks student ideas, thought, and provide opportunities for students to have a formative role in the classroom. Optimal level of teacher control is necessary in order to organize classroom and maintain better relationships. In addition, in order to get the most benefits from the instructional
opportunities, students need feedback about their learning. Teachers make statement to students attributing their performance to with ability. High quality feedback is described as communication from teachers that provides students with specific information. Overall, there are several key factors rise engagement in terms of teacher’s support 1.) acknowledging student voice, 2.) increasing intergenerational equity including low hierarchical relationship, 3.) sustaining youth and adult relationships throughout the learning environment. (Pianta et al. 2012, 366) These forms of help students maintain habits of high engagement throughout the grades, leading to school completion. Good relationships between student and teachers have been associated with student’s motivation, achievement, feeling of belonging and affect
in schooling. (Anderson 2004, 96)
2.3.2. Peer
Transition from elementary grades to secondary can be a key period for academic success or failure. School engagement is likely to take different form according to age and Individual–
level development. In other words, there is a different characteristic of engagement and disengagement in earlier grade in later years. For instance, at earlier age, the quantity and quality of children’s friendships was sound to be a predictor of their adjustment to school.
From childhood to adolescence, there is some increase in the amount of time that individuals spend with their friends an increase in the emotional quality during interactions with one’s friends, and an increase in the extent to which the quality of one’s close friendships is related to social adjustment (Kindermann 1991, 281).
Thus, moderate levels of meaningful participation and caring peer relationships leads to academic achievement. In general, intense interactions occur especially in sports and extra curricular activities. During adolescence, individuals experience rapid physical maturation as well as rapid development of cognitive skills. Some argued that behavioural and academic risk grows through grades at this time. Similarly, engagement in school more likely begins to
decline early in adherence, and by entry into high school. (Pianta et al. 2012, 367) Early adolescents are a critical development period for youth in high-risk environments. The needs for middle school environment and early adolescent developmental are responsible for the shift toward more negative student self-evaluations and school achievement attitudes. “They are influenced by a complex web of proximal processes such as social relationships and participation in various activities across the multiple environmental contexts of home and school” (Woolley & Browen 2007, 92). Adolescents bring their peers along with them; doing well in school switches from being a positively valued behavior among peers in childhood to a somewhat negatively. However, adolescents are both at risk and highly functioning with high degree of motivation and engagement within the classroom setting. Pupils have
experience a lot of things by secondary school and their meta-cognitive skills are higher than as it was at primary school level. Thus, “student may not become deeply investigated in learning until they have the intellectual capacity to self regulate and become intentional learners, which tends to occur at later ages” (Fredricks 2004, 84).
Goodenow and Osterman said “school belonging is socially grounded experience, derived from interpersonal relationships with member of the school community” (Hamm &
Faircloth 2005, 61). School belonging is based on the assumption that environments characterized by caring and supportive relationships that facilitate student engagement.
Students who feel school belonging are liked, respected, and valued by others in the school.
Also, positive relationships among peers contribute the sense of belonging. Sense of school belonging is critical to adolescents’ adjustment because it meets their development need for relatedness. They sense their own importance and perceive that they can rely on and shared valued with other community members. (Hamm & Faircloth 2005, 62) In addition, there is an emotional attachment to and security in the setting in that comes from feeling valued by and valuing of the community.
Friendship may play an important role in meeting the emotional aspect of school belonging, in support of or as a buffer to experiences of inclusion and exclusion derived from peer group acceptance. McMillan and Chavis said that emotional security in the community is a cornerstone of belonging (Hamm & Faircloth 2005, 63). Therefore, friendship
experiences support for security and emotional closeness. Children perceive close friendship as supportive relationships that can reduce stress and associated with life events (Berndt 1988, 308). Moreover, the quality of friendship varies depending on age. For example, friendships become more supportive relationships between middle childhood and early
adolescence. It become sensitive to each other’s needs and desires during adolescence (Berndt 1988, 312). There is an age change in motives for behavior, with adolescents showing a stronger preference than younger children for equal sharing rather than
competition with friends. There are several types of peer support. At First, esteem support:
the term esteem support refers to “statements or actions that convince people their own worth or value.” This type of support has also been called emotional support because, its aim is to make people feel better about themselves or their life situation. (Berndt 1988, 311)
Secondary, instrumental or tangible support indicates “the provision of resources or services that are necessary for solving practical problems.” The corresponding feature of friendship has been labeled prosocial behavior, taking and imposing, and sharing or helping. (Berndt 1988, 311) Berndt and Keefe found that adolescents who experience these qualities in their friendships report greater involvement with school and more strongly positive perceptions of peer acceptance (Hamm & Faircloth 2005, 64). Student’s friendship probably depends on the personality and social skills of the student themselves. Both environment and personal factors must be considered in explaining the variations in the amount of support that student get form their friends (Berndt 1988, 309). For instance, having more friends even before the transition seems to helps students when transitioning to a new school. Socially skillful student may have the easiest time navigating in a new environment and they remain highly engaged.
Student with a supportive, intimate and validating closed friend become more involved in class. Better- adjusted students that is those higher in popularity and sociability, were better able to maintain their friendships despite the school transition. (Berndt 1988, 324)
The role of peer relationships
Peer relationships can motivate students to engage in schoolwork as well as in extracurricular activities. The term “peer relationships” is used as “a superordinate construct to refer to close friendships (i.e., relationship characterized by mutual liking) as well as to peer group affiliations (i.e., less tight relationships united by common interests and activities)” (Juvonen, Espinozaz, & Knifsend 2012, 388). A mount of time students spend with their classmates and friends dominate in school life so that the students learn a lot of thing from each other. When student have friends and feel socially connected and supported at school which predispose them to feel positively towards academic work. Peer influence on academic engagement comes form studies on peer networks. Student select peer group and group accept member based on similarities. Likewise, student tend to have relationships and affiliate with similar others. For example, student engaged in classwork from friendships with
engaged classmate. High quality friendship typically involves positive features such as support, companionship and commitment. Students with a supportive, intimate and validating closest friend become more involved in class across the school year. To work together on homework or projects, emotional or social support is essential. Extra curricular activities facilitate positive school-related experiences, school belonging and commitment to school.
Friends’ involvement in the activities can be as a reason to continue their own participation.
Academic support from peer is related to active class participation. Involvement in the activities helped them develop a stronger sense of empathy and ability to handle stress and anxiety.
Peer acceptance and friendships are key source of experiences that support student’s sense of belonging in school. A greater peer acceptance and number friend prior to the transition to middle school was related to greater involvement. (Juvonen et al. 2012,393) However, there is negative engagement, which is socially marginalizing experience such as peer rejection and bullying. Peer acceptance and rejection have been used as theoretical justification for
studying peers and engagement. Peer acceptance is associated with satisfaction in school, which is an aspect of emotional engagement and socially appropriate behavior and academic effort, which are aspect of behavior engagement. Peer support and engagement are likely to be reciprocal. Children who do not conform to school rules and who dislike school is less likely to perceive peers support. Peer rejection is commonly defined as peers social avoidance of, dislike of or reluctance to affiliate with a student, rejection by classmate may threaten school belonging even more than lack of friends. Also aggressive students are at high risk for being rejected by classmate. Both perceived rejection and the low self-esteem associated with such perceptions make it difficult for students to concentrate on schoolwork and engage in productive, collaborative work with peers.
2.3.3 Family
Family members are the key contributor for school success and foster achievement motivation and student engagement. Parents and guardians are facilitators of engagement with school through active collaborations base on mutual interest and shared responsibility for children’s learning. Thus, parents are probably the primary and influential guides for children their life before school. Supportive adults provide social capital for youth. By Coleman, Social capital was defined as “a product the social environment that when present or available increases the probability that individuals will achieve desirable outcomes”
(Woolley & Bowen 2007, 93). Providing adequate housing, ensuring the child’s health safety and general well-being and providing a home environment support children’s learning.
Although stronger for younger children across a wide of ages, parent involvement in home learning environment by teaching them academic skills, providing experience with cultural activities, facilitating their motivation to engage that appears to have robust effect for child’s achievement. Parents engage in cognitive socialization strategies to foster the development of skills and children need. For example, family members are helping their children develop critical thinking skills by asking the questions. Also they can relief and manage risk factors.
Moreover, parents engage motivational socialization strategies to foster the kids beliefs about learning that encourage persistence, diligence and the ability to delay gratification. Help children’s internalize the attitudes and motivation.
Qualities of parent’s communications and interactions by encouraging their initiations and autonomous problem solving and taking their perspective seems to be correlated with higher level of school engagement. According to Bempechat and Shernoff (2012, 316) “the achievement related beliefs and behaviors of parents can have profound influence on how children come to perceive their intellectual abilities and the value of learning and education.”
Furthermore, parent’s own attitudes about learning, the value placed on education,
achievement expectation, and approaches with the school influence on the development of their child’s achievement-related beliefs and behaviors. Personal and familial circumstances at every moment influence how children engaged an individual or group in their learning.
Attachment theorists posit that when parents provide emotional support and a predictable, consistent and safe environment children become more self-reliant and are able to take risks as they explore the world because they know that an adult will be there to help them if they need it. Tokoyama reported that academic achievement is promoted when students perceive greater levels of family togetherness and parent support (Bowen, Rose, Powers & Glennie
2008, 507). Additionally, authoritative parenting style (high acceptance, supervision, and psychological autonomy granting) leads to better adolescent school performance and stronger school engagement (Steinberg 1992, 1266).
More importantly, parents in collaboration with their children, children’s teacher, school, and communities can work together that can enhance student success. School based involvement in school activities such as volunteering at school, a direct communication between parents and school, involvement in school governance. School plays an active role in whether and how families are involved in student learning. The model moves beyond families and schools
as separate influences to see them as partners with shared responsibilities for ensuring the success of students. Larger collaborative networks of schools, family’s community
organization and public institution can provide for the nurturing and supportive socialization of youth.
However, family and parents can also be a risk factors such as poverty, poor cognitive activity, neglect and lack of parental warmth and attention and less educated parents have been found to be less involved in their children’s schooling than parents with a higher education and income ” (Raftery, Groinick & Flamm 2012, 355; Woolley & Bowen 2007, 94).In addition, culture, economic and social resources that influence parent involvement.
Limited time. For instance, less disposable income, lack of transportation, occupation make involvement a challenge. Likewise, ability to help children in academic activities is limited in formal education. They believed it was largely the schools responsibilities to ensure student success. In other words, parents viewed educators as possessing superiority education skills and prestige and parents leave their child education to teachers. In addition, the use of
rewards and other external inducements to get children to engage in certain types of activities or behaviors, not like effort based learning strategies (Woolley & Bowen 2007, 93). As a result, children lose their internal motivation to learning.
Sensitive autonomy support vs controlling parenting
Parental involvement, autonomy support and structure are key elements in facilitating student engagement. Teacher and parent’s autonomy support predicated adolescent’s self-
determination and adjustment in school. Autonomy concerns a need to feel that behaviors are self-initiated rather than externally regulated. Autonomy supportive environments support children’s autonomous problem solving, action and decision-making and take children’s prospective and point of views. Parents implemented structure in an autonomy-supportive manner was also associated with children’s competence. Greater use of empathy, provision of choice, and provision of meaningful rationales were associated with lower endorsement of maladaptive control. Also caring and communicative relationships that support children’s independence (responsiveness dimension in which parents are sensitive but not indulgent of children’s request) promote social competence. Children with authoritative parents are more engaged and have educational expectations. “Developmental tasks during adolescence revolve around developing self-identity, managing unsupervised time, and directing one’s pursuits, family challenge emanates from high expectations for doing one’s best and
behavioral control, and family support is provide by an authentic interest in the child,
unconditional positive regards, acceptance/involvement, and autonomy granting” (Bempechat
& Shernoff 2012, 327).
However, for instance, East Asian culture may make children more accepting of parental control, the effects of a controlling parenting style on academic and psychological functioning is negative. Parental control stronger propensities to engage in risky social;
autonomy, cause them to feel coerced and externally regulated. In this case, parents need to make age appropriate demands for mature behavior and provide tangible resources, such as attention, time and psychological resources such as emotional support and warmth. Parental autonomy support, “parenting that favored autonomous problem solving, choice, and joint decision making over pressure, punishment, and controlling rewards was modestly associated with children’s reports of more autonomous self regulation- that is, more autonomously initiated and managed learning and achievement behaviors” (Raftery et al 2012, 350).
In African context, it seems not many parents are not acting participants in education of their children. Rather, pupils do receive support their home homework, it is more likely from siblings and friends rather than parents. (Marphatia, Edge, Legault, and Archer 2010, 28) The obstacles parents face in trying to be more involved are composed several reasons.
First of all, the literacy level of adults in Senegal is 42% (33% women) (Marphatia et. al 2010, 28). This low literacy leads to lack of confidence, skills and knowledge makes them difficult to help to academic support their children’s leaning and feel marginalize parents from education. Also, poverty and is one main reason parents pull children out of school.
Some parents consider their children to supplement family income by working fields and sea.
Therefore, Cultural and historical context are critical in shaping thinking and development of belief system including those that guide parental education socialization practices cultural context play central roles in helping us understand how parents foster their children’s
engagement with school. The transmission of educational values from one generation to next can be conceptualized as memes, the cultural units of intergenerational inheritance, as analogue genes. It might be important mechanism for the evolution and maintenance of culture itself. Parent’s own educational attitudes and beliefs may be major influence on the educational attitudes that their children gradually adopt. (Bempechat & Shernoff 2012, 327)
2.4 Cognitive engagement
Cognitive engagement is defined as “a student’s level of investment in learning and includes aspects such as perceived relevance of school work to future endevors, personal goal, a preference for challenges sufficiently of coursework, appropriate application of leaning strategies, self regulation, and willingness to exert necessary effort to master difficult skills, and autonomy” (Chandra 2012, 62). It also includes students’ understanding of why they are doing, what they are doing and its importance (Klem & Conelle 2004, 262). However, there are several negative tendencies of investment on work that when the students get older. Some older students get the less likely to involve in the class or activities. It is less likely that the students are to take risks especially being wrong in front of peers and engage themselves in activities at which they are not sure they will succeed. In addition, to older students “failure following high effort” appears to carry more negative implications than failure that results from minimal or no effort. In this situation, the students have already been giving up even before trying something. Students threatened by a situation tend to react by avoiding or relaying the activity by escaping the situation mentally or physically.
Cognitive engagement can be less observable and more internal indicators rather than extrenal. It can be said that cognitive engagement is hard to measure but tend to be easy to neglect by adults. Therefore, teachers needs to think how student be invested. Cognitive engagement addresses two variables that might affect achievement and psychological adjustment. One is psychological investment in learning that “covers perceptions of
competency, willingness to engagement in learning activities and engages in effortful leaning and establishing task-oriented goals” (Archambault, Janosz, Fallu & Pangani 2009, 654). For example, when student cognitively, they desier to go beyond the requirements. As a
consequent, the motivated students prefer to make effort like asking questions clarification of uncertain concepts, persisting with difficult tasks, reading more than the material assigned.
Newmaan adds psychological investment requires student effort towards leaning, understanding, mastering the knowledge and skills (Fredricks et al. 2004, 64).
Eventually, the students become more like to be positive and high self-efficacy, which is one of the important elements on cognitive engagement. Self-efficacy is the confidence or strength of belief that we have in ourselves that we can make our learning happen. In other words, it is what does the student belief about his/ her ability or what does he or she can do. A higher sense of self-efficacy can positively affect leaning, achievement, self-regulation, and
motivational outcomes such as individuals’ choice of activities effort, persistence and
interests. (Schunk & Mullen 2012, 220) Self-efficacious students are motivated and engaged in learning, which promotes their competence as learners. They are likely to set learning goals, use effective learning strategies, monitor comprehension, evaluate goal progress, and create supportive environments. It is also shaped by personal, cultural, and social factors, making leaning and achievement complex socio-cultural phenomena. (Schunk & Mullen 2012, 220) They see even hard tasks as challenges rather than try to avoid them. Similarly, they regard failures as chances to learn and to make a greater effort or to look for new information next time and to do well on personal deficiencies or obstacles. On contrary, low self- efficacy tends to be negative and less motivated attitudes. The students are more likely to avoid difficult tasks and have a low and weak commitment to goals.
Another characteristics of cognitively engaged students use of self- regulation strategies or being strategic such as memorization, task planning, and self-monitoring. More precisely, the students tend to use metacognitive strategies to plan, monitor, and evaluate their cognition after finishing the schoolwork. (Fredricks et al. 2004, 64) In practice, the student conduct rehearsal, summarizing, ensuring understand the material so that the student manage and control their practical and mental effort on tasks. Moreover, there is a strong connection between teacher support and cognitive engagement. Creating socially supportive and
respectful challenging environment by teachers increase engagement cognitively so that students become more being strategic about leaning. (Fredricks et al. 2004, 75) “Cognitive abilities are highly dependent on broad level social influences that reflect cultural belief systems and practices as well as intra-individual differences in social and emotional skills and self-regulation” (Wentzel 2012, 479). It needs to be concentrated on focusing on alternative variable such as student’s perceived competence, personal goal setting and relevance to offer student’s optimism for a positive outcome.
2.4.1 Relevance
The students invest in learning confidently and maximize one’s ability when the content is interesting or relevant to what they want to do. In other words, students typically participate in activities because they are intrinsically interested and motivated in the contents of
activities. Students tend to consider before exercising whether how enjoyable or meaningful the task will be, how useful the task is for achieving one’s various short and long term goals, and how well the task helps one manifest one’s personal needs which become value. In
general, students who relate to their school subjects in the context of what they want to become improve their mental competence and engagement in learning goals and tasks.
(Schunk & Mullen 2012, 226) On the contrary, irrelevant and lacking appropriate and meaningless challenges lead to disconnect to the school and class. Social and task related disengagement and alienation link directly to classroom experiences that are disconnected from youths development needs and motivations. Too often school curriculum and the
rationales behind it are taken as a “given” without recognition that these rationales need to be clear and explain to student. Similarly, competitive, standards driven instruction in
decontextualized skills and knowledge tied directly to the sense of alienation and
disengagement. Therefore, it can be argued that the clear connection of academic skills and knowledge to their real life experience are one of essential element for improving learning and engagement. Consciously, addressing the relevance of what occurs within the classroom to the larger world is critical to engage otherwise restless young mind.
Susceptible adolescents especially deploy a considerable amount of effort in attempts make meaning in their life. The real world connections much be made in ways that are meaningful as perceived by students. For example, in the early grades, simple corrects or incorrect questions and answers are prominent but thinking, problem solving, and reasoning with real-world information is conspicuously absent in the vast majority of classroom. “Any curriculum, which starts with the student and his needs, has a very good chance of being relevant. Any curriculum, which is structured around subjects and the accumulation of information, has little chance of being relevant to the learner” (Ranaweera 1990, 9). In practice, teacher needs to take an empathic active role in relation to their students. Teachers may increase relevance of the classroom by making repeated, explicit ties between curricular material and linking schoolwork to current events and encourage engagement and
participation in leaning that is somewhat less constricted. In addition, fostering relevance involves direct attempts by teachers to help students to experience the leaning process as relevant to and supportive of their self-determined interests, goals and values. “To facilitate such as positive perception of learning, teachers may explain the contribution of the leaning task to student’s personal goal and attempt to understand students’ feelings and thoughts concerning the leaning task” (Assor, Kaplan & Roth 2002, 264). Moreover, “the emphasis on relevance –fostering as an important autonomy supportive behavior that promote the
experience of self- determination in school work and other human activities” ( Assor et al.
2002, 265). The role first requires the teacher first to understand student’s goals, interests, and
needs and then to link school tasks those goals, interests and needs. According to Fredricks (2004, 80), Individual needs are a mediator between contextual factors and engagement.
When classroom contexts meet their needs for relatedness, which is likely to occur in classrooms where teachers and peers create a caring and supportive environment.
However, the reality is that classroom are constrained situations and students often have to perform an actively for external reasons, typically whether they like it or not. It is possible that in schools in which there is a very wide range of choice options that students can choose what they want to learn. The provision of choice might be as important as relevance. Ford addresses not only what student’s do value, but what schools ought to be teaching them to value. (Dweck 1996, 183) The balance between students needs and the school curriculum, which is decided by the government, school or teacher, need to be maintained. The implication is that “some of the ills of our society may be linked to individualism run amok, to the emphasis on individual’s right and desires over their social responsibilities” (Dweck 1996, 183).
In the context of developing countries especially African countries, relevance can be an issue for curriculum reform programmes carried by many countries to adjust the content of general education curriculum to suit the changing society, economic, and cultural context and to meet the demands brought about by global development. These include national history of decolonization, advances of science and technology, the energy and resource crisis,
environmental problems, population issues, poverty and unemployment, international
understanding, peace and disarmament. Scheffler argued that “relevance is, in particular, not an absolute property; nothing is either relevant or irrelevant in and of itself. Relevant to what, how, and why?” – that is the question (Ranaweera 1990, 9). If education is considered as one of the main factors contributing to the development of the individual and the nation, and to the improvement of the quality of life, then it necessarily follows that it should be relevant to the historical, social and cultural traditions of the country, national development goals, environment, and pertaining to the quality of life of community.
2.4.2 Future goals
Personal goals are strongly connected to both motivation and learning results. “Goals are symbolic processes that instigate and sustain actions so that learners must commit to attempting goals.” (Schunk & Mullen 2012, 224) Ames (1992, 263) argued goal theory is
“student adopt about the nature and purpose of leaning, beliefs about ability, and conceptions
